In recent years, multimedia communications over wired and/or wireless packet communications networks such as the Internet have gained increased popularity. For example, such multimedia communications can be performed within the context of video conferencing systems. In such video conferencing systems, successful transmissions of multimedia data among groups of conference participant devices over packet communications networks generally require sufficient bandwidth and low latency for minimal packet loss. Such transmissions of multimedia data between the respective conference participant devices are typically based upon the real-time transport protocol (RTP), while delivery of such multimedia data to the respective conference participant devices is typically monitored using the real-time transport control protocol (RTCP).
Maintaining successful multimedia communications in such video conferencing systems can be problematic, however, particularly when transmissions of multimedia data are performed over packet communications networks such as the Internet. For example, while engaging in video conferencing over the Internet, groups of conference participant devices may be subjected to different levels of network congestion, which can result in reduced bandwidth, increased latency, and ultimately increased packet losses, potentially degrading the multimedia quality of experience (QoE) for one, some, or all of the respective conference participant devices in the respective groups.
To address the problem of increased packet losses associated with transmissions of multimedia data over packet communications networks, various error concealment techniques, such as temporal (e.g., inter-frame) and spatial (e.g., intraframe) error concealment techniques, have been employed, using information obtained from the multimedia bitstream. Such error concealment techniques can be used to interpolate areas of video frames that have been adversely affected by such packet losses. It would be desirable, however, to have improved systems and methods of error concealment that can maintain desired multimedia QoE levels while engaging in real-time video communications over lossy networks, such as wired and/or wireless packet communications networks including the Internet.